Welcome to the Bureaucratocracy of Australia - 
wren 460 & jonkster quotes off the UP...
By degrees and by definition it is not working as it should because Ministers have been giving up their responsibilities by creating independent Commonwealth corporations to govern in their stead. The great ‘independent umpire’ idea so fancied by politicians and it seems the sports loving populace.
It is also a much beloved and coveted prize for a bureaucracy moving out of the more salary restricted mainstream Public Service into the wider Pubilic Sector and where ‘commercial corporate’ rates of pay are the norm.
When CASA was set loose from direct Ministerial control, some thirty years ago, none of us foresaw the looming disaster, death by a thousand cuts for GA.
As for John Anderson, dishing up the notion that affordability has no place regarding safety was always mindless and completely illogical. That the notion was made into law shows how, for all our supposed educated sophistication, our democracy is far from perfect and the old saying “eternal vigilance,” to keep our freedoms, remains just as true as anytime in the past.
Inroads into our freedom of speech have occurred and the whole apparatus of government has become extremely top heavy thanks in no small part to the handout mentality. In consequence there’s as many voting for a living as working for same making it very difficult for governments to move.
GA has got a battle on it’s hands.
jonkster:
1. A regulation rewrite by a government body that has taken decades longer than anticipated and is still ongoing (and NZ who did similar achieved and implemented decades faster). At what cost? To achieve not a simpler system but a more arcane one.
2. An aviation industry that is struggling to survive. Closures of maintenance, charter and training organisations across the country. Loss of facilities, skills, corporate knowledge. Loss of public benefit that having a viable GA industry provides.
3. A shortage of pilots in the airlines. Australian flying schools disappearing and talk of having to get overseas pilots to fill vacancies because we are not able to train our own. We used to train not just our own pilots but large numbers of overseas pilots.
4. Regional aviation industries, jobs and services disappearing. Higher costs to regional residents for transport and closures of local business and loss of employers.
5. The body responsible for overseeing the industry keeps growing larger and is imposing more and more onerous restrictions on the industry and there is much doubt within the industry about the actual safety value of those restrictions.
6. Huge antipathy and distrust between the regulatory body and the industry it serves.
7. An industry in crisis that wants a regulatory body that includes in its charter some responsibility for assisting maintain the viability of the industry it serves instead of its current narrow focus on imposing regulation without any need to consider the practical impact of those regulations on the viability of the industry.
8. An industry whose health and viability depends on maintaining a high level of safety but that feels it is having onerous and often poorly thought out regulations imposed on it that are not so much about practical safety outcomes as the appearance and ease of enforcement by the regulator.
9. Governments over decades that have washed their hands and allowed the regulator to continue to act without regard for the viability of the industry because they are too scared to make decisions that may impact safety (or the perception of safety).
10 Handing over of commonwealth aviation assets that have served a vital role in the aviation industry (and its benefit to the community) to private hands who then develop and those assets to maximise their profits in ways that reduce or remove aviation from the facility.
Surely this would make for a great 4 corners program. Particularly close to an election.
Speaking of 4 corners, have just read the transcript from last night's 4C program 'Mongrel bunch of bastards'...
![[Image: 9635028-16x9-thumbnail.jpg?v=2]](http://www.abc.net.au/cm/rimage/9635028-16x9-thumbnail.jpg?v=2)
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'Mongrel bunch of bastards'
Posted Mon 9 Apr 2018, 8:31pm
Updated Mon 9 Apr 2018, 6:57pm
Expires: Sunday 10 April 2033 8:31pm
"Mongrel bunch of bastards": Taking on the extraordinary powers of the Tax Office.
"You might say that murderers have more rights than tax payers." Tax barrister
The Australia Taxation Office is a formidable enforcer with extraordinary powers. It can raid your home or business without a warrant, it can compel you to answer questions and treat you as guilty until proven innocent.
"(It) can effectively act like a judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into one. That's the problem." Tax barrister
While there's strong public support for a crackdown on major multinational corporations to force them to pay their fair share, there is growing concern that the Tax Office is targeting people a long way from the big end of town.
"They chase low-hanging fruit, people who are being honest and upright, and they whack them with a huge bill and then chase them." Small business lobbyist
In a major joint Four Corners/Fairfax investigation, reporter Adele Ferguson puts the actions of the Tax Office under the microscope, examining how it uses its extensive powers.
"How can you describe someone who's trying to destroy your livelihood and destroy your way of life? I'd call that evil." Business operator
Months in the making, this investigation shows what happens when a taxpayer finds themselves in the cross hairs of the ATO.
"There's an agenda that's going on in there, and the Australian public know nothing about it." Business operator
It examines whether the ATO is playing by the rules and acting fairly and ethically.
"Dealing with the ATO, I've never come across such a mongrel bunch of bastards in my entire life." Business operator
...to which I was struck by the disturbing similarities between the ATO and CASA's seemingly duplicitous persecution of the 'little guy' small businesses and operators...
Here is some quotes for comparison - Hint: Just swap ATO for CASA:
Those 'standard garnishee notices' and the 'cash grab' statement sound a lot like the many suspicions and hard evidence of 'cost recovery' through 'fee gouging' by CASA ...
The following is a de-identified email correspondence to CASA from an operator trying to renew an expired exemption instrument:
"...Thanks (CASA Officer),
I’m sure you get push back on this stuff a lot, I recall a similar amount the last time I applied, and I recall the exact reaction the last time I applied.
There is absolutely no way that it could take 2 hours to prepare this 1 sentence letter or that the ‘cost’ is $160 per hour… this is a money grab far beyond the ‘cost’ to prepare.
This hourly rate implies the total cost to employ someone in CASA is $1.6m per annum, I hope you’re getting your fair share! How is this possible? As a tax payer I actually want to know the answer to this…
I hate to imagine what the regulatory cost is for commercial operators with more complex unique circumstances. They should be putting more money into maintenance and pilot training than this crap.
The impact is the opposite to what CASA sets out to achieve, I will not be renewing..."
MTF...P2
wren 460 & jonkster quotes off the UP...
Quote:wren 460:
Democracy not working for GA
Originally Posted by Dick Smith [/url]
Quote:So here we have a Deputy Prime Minister basically stating a lie and getting away with it.
Have a look at Mr Anderson’s [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anderson_(Australian_politician)]Wikipedia entry.
It raves on about what a fantastic Deputy Prime Minister he was and how he was praised when he eventually retired. There is not one mention in the entry of him actually doing anything for the aviation side of the Transport portfolio.
As we know, he propagated these “lies” that you don’t need to have affordable aviation regulations. He got away with that and by the look of it, the next Minister has been advised (by bureaucrats earning $600,000 or $700,000 per year) to do the same thing.
It is almost as if our democracy is not working any more.
By degrees and by definition it is not working as it should because Ministers have been giving up their responsibilities by creating independent Commonwealth corporations to govern in their stead. The great ‘independent umpire’ idea so fancied by politicians and it seems the sports loving populace.
It is also a much beloved and coveted prize for a bureaucracy moving out of the more salary restricted mainstream Public Service into the wider Pubilic Sector and where ‘commercial corporate’ rates of pay are the norm.
When CASA was set loose from direct Ministerial control, some thirty years ago, none of us foresaw the looming disaster, death by a thousand cuts for GA.
As for John Anderson, dishing up the notion that affordability has no place regarding safety was always mindless and completely illogical. That the notion was made into law shows how, for all our supposed educated sophistication, our democracy is far from perfect and the old saying “eternal vigilance,” to keep our freedoms, remains just as true as anytime in the past.
Inroads into our freedom of speech have occurred and the whole apparatus of government has become extremely top heavy thanks in no small part to the handout mentality. In consequence there’s as many voting for a living as working for same making it very difficult for governments to move.
GA has got a battle on it’s hands.
jonkster:
1. A regulation rewrite by a government body that has taken decades longer than anticipated and is still ongoing (and NZ who did similar achieved and implemented decades faster). At what cost? To achieve not a simpler system but a more arcane one.
2. An aviation industry that is struggling to survive. Closures of maintenance, charter and training organisations across the country. Loss of facilities, skills, corporate knowledge. Loss of public benefit that having a viable GA industry provides.
3. A shortage of pilots in the airlines. Australian flying schools disappearing and talk of having to get overseas pilots to fill vacancies because we are not able to train our own. We used to train not just our own pilots but large numbers of overseas pilots.
4. Regional aviation industries, jobs and services disappearing. Higher costs to regional residents for transport and closures of local business and loss of employers.
5. The body responsible for overseeing the industry keeps growing larger and is imposing more and more onerous restrictions on the industry and there is much doubt within the industry about the actual safety value of those restrictions.
6. Huge antipathy and distrust between the regulatory body and the industry it serves.
7. An industry in crisis that wants a regulatory body that includes in its charter some responsibility for assisting maintain the viability of the industry it serves instead of its current narrow focus on imposing regulation without any need to consider the practical impact of those regulations on the viability of the industry.
8. An industry whose health and viability depends on maintaining a high level of safety but that feels it is having onerous and often poorly thought out regulations imposed on it that are not so much about practical safety outcomes as the appearance and ease of enforcement by the regulator.
9. Governments over decades that have washed their hands and allowed the regulator to continue to act without regard for the viability of the industry because they are too scared to make decisions that may impact safety (or the perception of safety).
10 Handing over of commonwealth aviation assets that have served a vital role in the aviation industry (and its benefit to the community) to private hands who then develop and those assets to maximise their profits in ways that reduce or remove aviation from the facility.
Surely this would make for a great 4 corners program. Particularly close to an election.
Speaking of 4 corners, have just read the transcript from last night's 4C program 'Mongrel bunch of bastards'...
Press play then disable your screen reader. Use space bar to pause or play, and up and down arrows to control volume. Use left arrow to rewind and right arrow to fast forward.
'Mongrel bunch of bastards'
Posted Mon 9 Apr 2018, 8:31pm
Updated Mon 9 Apr 2018, 6:57pm
Expires: Sunday 10 April 2033 8:31pm
"Mongrel bunch of bastards": Taking on the extraordinary powers of the Tax Office.
"You might say that murderers have more rights than tax payers." Tax barrister
The Australia Taxation Office is a formidable enforcer with extraordinary powers. It can raid your home or business without a warrant, it can compel you to answer questions and treat you as guilty until proven innocent.
"(It) can effectively act like a judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into one. That's the problem." Tax barrister
While there's strong public support for a crackdown on major multinational corporations to force them to pay their fair share, there is growing concern that the Tax Office is targeting people a long way from the big end of town.
"They chase low-hanging fruit, people who are being honest and upright, and they whack them with a huge bill and then chase them." Small business lobbyist
In a major joint Four Corners/Fairfax investigation, reporter Adele Ferguson puts the actions of the Tax Office under the microscope, examining how it uses its extensive powers.
"How can you describe someone who's trying to destroy your livelihood and destroy your way of life? I'd call that evil." Business operator
Months in the making, this investigation shows what happens when a taxpayer finds themselves in the cross hairs of the ATO.
"There's an agenda that's going on in there, and the Australian public know nothing about it." Business operator
It examines whether the ATO is playing by the rules and acting fairly and ethically.
"Dealing with the ATO, I've never come across such a mongrel bunch of bastards in my entire life." Business operator
...to which I was struck by the disturbing similarities between the ATO and CASA's seemingly duplicitous persecution of the 'little guy' small businesses and operators...
Here is some quotes for comparison - Hint: Just swap ATO for CASA:
Quote:...ADELE FERGUSON: Any developments with the Tax Office?
ANNETTE PIKE, OUTSCRIBED: No nothing final we're still in the thick of it, we're still waiting for an outcome so everyone is still in limbo.
So we need to have an answer we need to be able to go forward because we can't sustain this.
ADELE FERGUSON: How would you describe the tax office?
ANNETTE PIKE: In one short word I would call what they're doing evil.
There's an agenda that's going on in there, and the Australian public know nothing about it.
We knew nothing about it.
We were naive. How can you describe someone who's trying to destroy your livelihood and destroy your way of life? I'd call that evil...
...ADELE FERGUSON: She made around $700 a week. Now that was in jeopardy
KATHRYN LITTLE: No one could give me a reason why the ABN had been cancelled. No one could tell me what part of the legislation or what part of the guidelines or what part of the regulations I did not comply with. I actively asked them, what do I need to do to comply with the regulations behind the decision that you're making?...
...ADELE FERGUSON: Ken Phillips believes the Tax Office deliberately targets small business.
KEN PHILLIPS: They set targets, they chase low-hanging fruit, people who are being honest and upright, and they whack them with a huge bill and then chase them.
The big end of town and high wealth individuals can afford to get a whole lot of lawyers out and line the lawyers up at $800 an hour and defend themselves properly against the tax office, small business person doesn't have that.
ADELE FERGUSON: What are some of the complaints you get from small business about the ATO?
KATE CARNELL, SMALL BUSINESS OMBUDSMAN: Look, a lot of the issues surrounding the ATO is that they're complex, they're difficult to deal with, they don't know who to talk to, but some of the real concerns are when there's a problem with an assessment at the ATO, what the ATO says you owe them isn't what you believe you owe them.
Trying to get those things sorted out is still very, very difficult...
...ANNETTE PIKE: If I had read this as a film script, I would say I was in an Eastern Bloc country in the 1950s behind the Iron Curtain because It's the government controlling the way people live in a way that's malicious.
There's no other word for it. It's malicious and it's vengeful. We're supporting the Australian economy. How do you make sense of that?
ADELE FERGUSON: The Australian Taxation Office is one of the most powerful institutions in Australia.
If the ATO suspects you owe it money, you are guilty until proven innocent.
It can raid your home or business without a warrant, and compel you to answer questions.
GRAEME HALPERIN, TAX BARRISTER: You've got tremendous power invested in an organisation which, because of its powers, can effectively act like a judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into one. That's the problem...
..ADELE FERGUSON: The watchdog could do with more bite. Its recommendations aren't binding.
KATE CARNELL: Not much point in having an independent entity if it doesn't have the powers or the capacity or the size to actually deal with the issues that we're talking about.
If you're going to have an independent entity, it's got to have teeth, and it's got to have size.
DEBORAH JENKINS: We have so much scrutiny in the ATO.
We've got various committees, so Senate Estimates, other revenue committees, we've got the Inspector-General, and there's a whole other range of people who are doing various reviews, so yeah, absolutely, we have got enough scrutiny of the work that we're currently doing...
...GRAEME HALPERIN: At the end of the day what we're talking about is raising revenue all governments of all persuasions are desperate for revenue.
Business is an obvious target, small business is the best target, because they haven't got people there, out there, to protect them the way big business has.
They don't have the barrage of lawyers. They can't afford them.
RON SHAMIR: The Tax Office generally produces an estimate of how much revenue it's going to collect in the financial year, we refer to it as the Plan, we call it the Plan at leadership meetings when we discuss it and when staff discuss it amongst themselves.
ADELE FERGUSON: Ron Shamir worked in the ATO's serious evasion branch in Melbourne where he says the pressure to meet revenue forecasts put the focus on small business.
RON SHAMIR: If halfway through the financial year it appeared that we were short of that target that was supposed to be just an estimate, then a lot of pressure would be put on for cases to be done more quickly procedures would be changed, even staffing changes would occur in order for senior management to deal with, to address, the shortfall compared to the Plan.
You would be looking at taxpayers who are less able to resist the might of the tax office.
Taxpayers that are more vulnerable and that often-meant individuals and small businesses rather than larger businesses.
ADELE FERGUSON: Ron Shamir turned whistle-blower in 2015 accusing the ATO of breaching taxpayer rights.
He was eventually sacked over non-performance.
RON SHAMIR: Unfortunately, the culture that I saw at the ATO is what you would expect in a powerful, large agency that has very little effective scrutiny.
There's not much of somebody looking in from the outside into what's happening...
...RICHARD BOYLE: So it shows here through negotiation I collected $300, 000 through payment arrangements I collected $130,000 through garnishees I collected $3,000.
ADELE FERGUSON: So what does this data tell you?
RICHARD BOYLE: well that data shows me that blindly issuing standard garnishees and potentially damaging certain sections on the community is not a very effective way to collect the debt.
ADELE FERGUSON: He describes a culture where staff were encouraged to notch up garnishee notices, allowing them to seize money from taxpayer's bank accounts.
In May an email was sent to staff towards the end of the working day encouraging them to issue more garnishee notices before their shift ended.
The last hour of power is upon us...That means you still have time to issue another five garnishees... right?
RICAHRD BOYLE: I was horrified.
ADELE FERGUSON: As the end of the financial year approached, Richard Boyle says his team was told to use standard garnishee notices almost all the time.
A standard garnishee notice gives the ATO ongoing access to funds in the taxpayer's bank account.
RICHARD BOYLE: We were essentially ordered and directed to start doing standard garnishees on every case, and I was absolutely shocked. I started taking copious minutes because I was really concerned that taxpayers were going to be adversely affected by what I could only say is an unethical decision of the Australian Taxation Office...
...ADELE FERGUSON: The following week, there was an email on how to escalate debt recovery from taxpayers who owed money:
"These clients are not entitled to any additional time and shouldn't be granted any unless they have unbelievably exceptional circumstances."
ADELE FERGUSON: And what do you think was the motivation?
RICHARD BOYLE: The motivation appeared to be that we were just collecting revenue before the end of the financial year and it didn't matter if we hurt members of the community.
ADELE FERGUSON: A cash grab?
RICHARD BOYLE: That's probably a good summation that's what my colleagues were saying on the floor.
ADELE FERGUSON: Sorry what were they saying?
RICHARD BOYLE: That that this was a cash grab. My colleagues were saying, this is a cash grab, clearly a cash grab...
Those 'standard garnishee notices' and the 'cash grab' statement sound a lot like the many suspicions and hard evidence of 'cost recovery' through 'fee gouging' by CASA ...
The following is a de-identified email correspondence to CASA from an operator trying to renew an expired exemption instrument:
"...Thanks (CASA Officer),
I’m sure you get push back on this stuff a lot, I recall a similar amount the last time I applied, and I recall the exact reaction the last time I applied.
There is absolutely no way that it could take 2 hours to prepare this 1 sentence letter or that the ‘cost’ is $160 per hour… this is a money grab far beyond the ‘cost’ to prepare.
This hourly rate implies the total cost to employ someone in CASA is $1.6m per annum, I hope you’re getting your fair share! How is this possible? As a tax payer I actually want to know the answer to this…
I hate to imagine what the regulatory cost is for commercial operators with more complex unique circumstances. They should be putting more money into maintenance and pilot training than this crap.
The impact is the opposite to what CASA sets out to achieve, I will not be renewing..."
MTF...P2